The delivery of 6 fighter jets, originally scheduled for the New Year, has now been delayed by 6 months, reports the Danish newspaper Berlingske.
Denmark's transfer of F-16 military fighter jets to Ukraine will be postponed for six months, the Danish newspaper Berlingske reports, citing the country's Ministry of Defense.
Kyiv has long argued that it needs the fighters to make significant military progress against Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium have announced their willingness to provide Kyiv with American-made F-16 fighters.
“The selection (of pilots – ed.) is ongoing, training is about to begin, and around the New Year, the first group of planes, I hope, will fly from Denmark to Ukraine – about six. I hope that next year, eight more planes will be sent to Ukraine, and the year after that – five,” the Danish Prime Minister said in August last year.
However, in October, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that the first aircraft would be shipped by April 2024.
Denmark was one of the first countries to promise to supply American-made fighters to Kyiv, and is one of the largest donors to Ukraine's military defense.
Ukrainian pilots will begin training on two F-16 fighter jets donated by Norway in Denmark, the Norwegian government announced this week.
